Miscellanea on a Snowy Day

Happy Snowy Day!

Note that I did not say “Happy SNOW Day”, much to my kids’ dismay. (I am a poet and didn’t know it!)

The news people are broadcasting that we have now had the first “major” Winter Storm of the year here in Chicagoland. I say, “HUH?” and “not really”. The first winter storm, yes. I’ll give them that one. Major? Not by a long shot. A mere 3-5 inches, depending upon where you live, is really nothing for this area. I remember the Blizzard of 1979, when we couldn’t even get out the back door. Now THAT was a major storm.

Anyway, I think the people the news anchors are really broadcasting to when it comes to snow are the youngsters. The fifteen-year-old came home yesterday, saying that he was “trying to start a rumor that the district was going to announce a snow day tomorrow by dinnertime today…ha ha”. I asked him how successful he was and he said, “All my friends just looked at me and told me I was full of crap.” So I guess that means he wasn’t successful.

The twelve-year-old got up early like he does every Wednesday (he has band practice before school) and rushed right down here to the computer to see if he got a snow day e-mail. Nope. Then he rushed upstairs again to turn on the news, hoping to hear his friends the news anchors announce that it would be a Snow Day. Nope. The best that little guy (not so little anymore) got was a call from the Band Phone Tree, telling him that band practice was cancelled. Oh well, better than nothing.

The husband and I shoveled snow early this morning (5:45 a.m.). It was GREAT shoveling snow. Those of you living in climates where it doesn’t snow at all or very much may not think about snow quality when it comes to shoveling, but here in the Midwest and in other snowy parts, snow quality makes all the difference in time and effort (and later that day, back pain!). This morning’s snow was quite pushable, so we didn’t have to do lots of lifting. It was light and fluffy but a little on the sticky side; we kept having to bang the shovel on the ground to dislodge the snow. (This snow is GREAT for snowball fights!) Bad shoveling snow is very, very heavy with a thin icy layer on top. That happens when the temperature is on the warmer side. In fact, by the time we finished shoveling our neighbor’s driveway (they took care of our leaves a couple of times a few weeks ago, so we returned the favor as a surprise!), the temp was rising and the snow was getting heavy. Ick. But we finished just in time.

I also had a little laugh as we shoveled. I decided that how you shovel can tell alot about your personality and how you handle what life throws at you. (this was very unscientific: I used only myself and my husband, but I’m curious to know if this is true…comments, please!) My husband was shoveling in neat, perfect rows. Very methodical. He even had a rhythm going: puuuuuushhhhh, splat. He didn’t move from his section until it was clean.

I, on the other hand, shovel like a crazy person. There is no rhythm, there are no neat rows, there is no pattern. I shovel in crooked lines, moving from one section to another to add a little variety to this mundane routine (but I like it, like I enjoy ironing!). Where I shovel starts out looking like a big mess, as if a four-year-old was doing it. But then when I’m done it looks exactly like where my husband has shoveled. Crazy! Those of you who have to shovel: what do you think?

Getting off topic here, we watched the Mel Brooks movie “Young Frankenstein” last night. I have seen it many times before, but as I was watching Gene Wilder (love him!), I kept thinking, “He looks like someone else; can’t figure out who.” Then it came to me.

Here’s Gene in the movie:

Here’s who he reminded me of:

Maybe I’ve lost it. Can someone please assure me I’m not completely insane?

My Group Cycling Holiday Playlist is coming along. Here’s what I’ve got so far (I don’t have them in order yet):

Do They Know It’s Christmas (the original! Thanks, Patty!)
Jingle Bells (Micro Xmas)
Last Christmas (Techno Mix Extended by Twister)
Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy (Red Baron Remix by Berlin Symphony Orchestra)
Carol of the Bells (A Demonic Christmas by DJ Demonixx)
All I Want For Christmas is You (Mariah Carey)
The Nutcracker Suite (Baz Kutz Breaks Mix by Berlin Symphony Orchestra)
Ice Ice Baby (Vanilla Ice) *Humor Me!
Palladio (by Silent Nick) (This is more well-known as the song from the DeBeers Diamond Commercials)

Still workin on it…I’ll let you know how it turns out! (If you want to hear any of them, all but the first one are on iTunes!)

I’ve got to get off the computer! Have a great day, no matter where you are! 🙂